The Trap
by Silvertide Requiem
Summary: This is the start of a story arc that I had planned a couple of years ago, but never got around to working on. Baised on the poem "The Trap", by Mercedes Lackey, this is the story on how young Madrie saves mganificent Killin


The Trap

_He plunges through the forest night   
His eyes are wide with fear.  
Behind him he can hear the sounds   
That means the hunt is near_

He looks over his shoulder quickly, seeing the men with their dogs and spears following a ways back. He looks forward again, his blue eyes looking through the leaves ahead of him. 'How long have they been following me?' he thought to himself. 'At least a day, maybe more, if I lost track of the phases of the moon.' Ahead, he sensed a clearing. He plunged through the brush and stopped in his tracks at the sight in front of him.

_And there before him is the trap  
And in the trap the bait.  
He trembles, kneels, and lays his horn  
Upon the lap of fate_

A girl was leaning against a tree, her dark hair framing her round face. Her eyes were closed, and he could tell she knew he was there. 'A maiden… she calls…' Lurching, he steps forward, kneeling down in front of the girl and resting his head in her lap. She opens her eyes to look down at his face. "Shhh… quiet for a moment. I am here to help you." Her eyes were bright purple, like the lowering sun shining on the darkening clouds. "The hunters are coming, you should run."

_And now the hunt converges  
On the spell bound unicorn  
The hunters mean to slay the beast  
And take his precious horn_

The hunters burst into the clearing, as he lay there, spellbound to this maiden. A tear dropped onto his face as the girl looks into the faces of the hunters.

_So gleeful in their greed and lust  
They have not paused to see  
This maid is not the peasant girl  
They left tied to the tree_

Some of hunters, the youngest two in the group, look closely at the maiden, noticing something different, but they lose it when the older men move closer to the unicorn. When the men are within a few feet of her, the girl gently pushes the unicorn's head off her lap. "Don't hurt him, he has done nothing to any of you, or whoever you work for."

"Move aside girl, and it won't be harmed." The lead hunter smiles, showing his ugly yellowing and blackened teeth. "Much."

The maid stands against the tree, glaring at the hunters as they approached the prone animal.

_Now as they raise their spears  
She casts red lightening from her hands  
Their limbs are bound fast to their sides  
As if with iron bands_

The lead hunter motions to the others to kill the beast, and the girl falls forward onto her knees. Softly, she chants to herself. Suddenly, raising her hands, she says the last word to complete the spell, and crimson lightning spreads from her fingertips, touching each and everyone of the hunters, causing them to freeze in their tracks. "You shall not harm him as long as I live."

_She rises, in her voice is rage  
And hatred in her eyes  
"Cruel killers of a dream be warned  
You merit death" She cries_

Rising to her feet again, she stands in front of the hunters. Her eyes are full of anger and hatred for these men. "I said you shall not hurt him. Not while I am alive. You would kill him for nothing."

The hunter doesn't reply to her comment. His eyes show fear, but that was all, for he can't move. Frozen as he is, nothing can make his expression change.

_"Though you spread terror, pain, and fear  
Rough justice shall you see  
And as you have the hunters been  
So shall you hunted be"_

She continues talking. "You spread fear and pain to all you meet. I should show you no mercy, for you show no other creature any." She turns her back to the hunters and kneels beside the prone creature, helping him to his feet. "It is okay now, you are safe with me." She turns back to the hunting group. "You have hunted and killed your last. Now it is your turn to be hunted."

_Now once again, from out her hands  
The lightening dance and flare  
Where each man had stood there was  
A small and frightened hare_

She raises her hands and the lightning flashes again. The hunters are released from their bonds as they all disappear in the crimson light. When the light clears, the hunters are gone, and a pack of frightened rabbits sit there, quivering their noses and twitching their whiskers. Smirking, the mage turns back to the unicorn. He stands there, proud and shining, not covered in sweat as he had been not that long ago.

_From moon to sun, to moon again  
Run evil, hunted men  
And pray the lady spares your lives  
They fled in terror, then  
"Dear unicorn, you and your kind  
Still yet may die unless  
Shall we turn hunter, you and I?"  
And the unicorn said_ "Yes."

She takes a step closer to the unicorn, and he pushes his nose closer so she can lean in him. "That took more out of me then I would have liked." She looks into the deep blue eyes of the unicorn. "But it was worth it to save you." She smiles lightly.

A thought comes to the mages mind. _Why though? Why did you save me?_

"For you. I don't like to see other magic born creatures harmed. I watched the last of the dragons die, her clutch destroyed by hunters like them." She sees pain flicker in his eyes, followed by sorrow. "But there are other forests, other unicorn's protecting them. We can still save them. Together."

_I do not wish to leave my forest. I have no need to, now that I am safe and not hunted. _ The unicorn tosses his head, dislodging the girl from his nose.

"But, you need the others. You are not immortal, like the dragons. You can die." Tears fill her eyes. "You must help me fight the death and killing. _Please_ help…"

_Your tears interest me, human. As does your magic. I will help you, but if just one unicorn dies, I shall return here, never to be bothered by your kind again_.

"And I shall set a spell to protect the forest from all intrusion."

_Yes_ . The unicorn's eyes smile at her. _Let us be friends_.

"That we shall be. You don't mind-" The mage moves to the unicorn's side, putting a bit of weight on his back.

_Not at all_ . The unicorn kneels again and the mage clambers onto his back.

"Let us ride out now."

_Yes_. The unicorn walks forward, towards the edge of his forest while the mage casts the spell over every tree and stone, every plant and animal to protect all of them. It will keep them in the perpetual summertime, keeping them protected. Smiling, the mage and the unicorn ride out into the sunrise together.


End file.
